Toronto Blue Jays utility man Mark DeRosa has opted to retire from baseball rather than suit up for a 17th big-league season, the team has announced.
Blue Jays utility man Mark DeRosa announces retirement
In a surprise move, the veteran utility man has decided to retire even though Toronto picked up his 2014 option.
Christian Petersen
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DeRosa’s decision likely comes as a bit of a surprise to the Blue Jays. The veteran just had his contract option for 2014 picked up by the club last week, meaning the 38-year-old is walking away from a guaranteed salary of $750,000 next season. The announcement from the club didn’t give any details about why DeRosa chose to hang up his cleats, saying only that the team wishes him “all the best in his retirement.”
Drafted as a shortstop by the Braves with a seventh-round pick way back in 1996, DeRosa made his name in the bigs as a super utility guy with some pop in his bat well before Ben Zobrist made the role a sought-after commodity. DeRosa played as many as seven positions in a season, doing everything but pitch and catch.
While most players begin to fade when they reach their thirties, that’s when DeRosa hit his prime. In the four-season span of ‘06-‘09 (his age 31-34 seasons), DeRosa hit .281/.356/.448 with 67 home runs and 121 doubles, amassing 9.3 WAR -- over 90 percent of his career total.
He might have kept up his stellar production if the injury bug didn’t hit him hard in 2010, putting him on the disabled list five times over the next three seasons. A torn tendon sheath in his wrist was the main culprit -- sending him to the DL three times -- but he also had to deal with oblique issues.
DeRosa retires as a .268/.340/.412 hitter with exactly 100 home runs and 196 doubles in part of 16 seasons.
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